VA-164 USS Hancock TA-4F Skyhawks Vietnam 1972
As explained by Peter Mersky in his book “US Navy and Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk Units of the Vietnam War,” two TA-4Fs came on board USS Hancock (CVA-19) in August 1972. Assigned to VA-164, the two-seaters (BuNos 154325 and 153491) had been transferred from the Marine Corps, with the ‘Playboy’ FAC mission having been cancelled two years before in September 1970. They would be used as laser designator aircraft for strikes with the rear seater– usually pilots borrowed from other squadrons– using a hand-held laser to paint the target. It was the only time the two-seat Seahawk variant went to war from a carrier.